1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the production of instant hot cereal products. In particular, this invention relates to a process for producing an instant hot cereal product which contains a mixture of various flaked cereal grains.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Breakfast cereal products are well known and have been produced by the industry for many years. In producing these cereals many different types of grains including, wheat, rye, oats, barley, rice, corn, buck wheat, and others have been used alone and in combinations to produce cereal products. Cereals have also taken on different forms including shredded, puffed, flaked, toasted and granular particles. These forms are present in hot cereals, dry cereals, granola type cereals and others.
Regardles of the form of the cereal, it is always the goal of the cereal industry to produce a product that is desirable to the consumer. To create a product that is desirable to consumers a variety of factors such as taste, texture, color, and particle shape and size must be considered. Another factor of great importance is the ability to maintain particle integrity when the particle is rehydrated. For example when milk is added to the cereal or in the case of a hot cereal, when it is heated with water the cereal particle or flake must maintain its integrity and texture. It is also important that a cereal maintains it particle integrity during packaging and shipping. A home prepared, hot cereal has an added requirement in that it must maintain its particle integrity when it is boiled in water before being consumed.
The general process used in the industry to produce a mixed grain cereal is to cook the different grains separately after cutting and then mix the wet mass. After the product is steamed, it enters a flaking process. During flaking, the cooked cut grain particles are formed into larger particles or flakes and dried. The seperate processing of the cooked grains requires special handling for mixing which ultimately increases the cost of the cereal. Quality is difficult to maintain when each grain is cooked separately because it is necessary to monitor the cooking parameters of each individual batch. These increased quality control measures also increase the cost of the final product.
An alternative process to produce a mixed grain cereal is to mix the different grains in their dry form after flaking. This process, while easier than handling the ready processed as previously discussed, has an added disadvantage in that increased handling at the dry, fragile stage causes breakage problems with the flakes. To mitigate these losses, manufacturing plants are usually set up with a gravity aided process, which starts at the top floor and ends with the finished product at the bottom floor. This process is typical for a single grain or single flake cereal. While this process has the added advantage of handling the flakes when they are dry, it also has the disadvantage of resulting in excessive breakage of the flakes. Flake breakage results in a high concentration of "dust" or fine particles. This increases the cost of the final product due to increased losses from breakage.
Cereal flakes not only must withstand the forces incurred during packaging and shipping, but also maintain their particle integrity upon rehydration, usually with milk in a cereal bowl. It is important that the cereal does not lose its texture upon rehydration, which would result in the cereal going "limp" and "soggy".
Rehydration occurs in two steps. The first step is when surface moisture contacts the flakes. The second step is absorption of moisture into the flake particle. The second step can be deliterious to the flake's integrity. It is desirable that the toasted flakes maintain a crisp inner portion, while the outer portion becomes wet and semi-soft. This results in a appetizing product that is easily consumed, but yet maintains its crispness and freshness in the cereal bowl.
Cooked cereals, have an added problem. The flakes of a cooked cereal have to withstand increased stress to their integrity during the cooking phase prior to consuming. It is desirable to consumers that a cooked cereal not turn into a fine particle mush during cooking. To avoid this, it is important to produce flake particles that are large and strong enough to maintain their integrity during cooking.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,544,332 to Leebens discloses a process for producing ready-to-eat breakfast cereal flakes. In this process, cereal grains such as wheat, oats, rice, corn, or combinations thereof are mixed into a dough form. The grains are cooked and formed into a dough at a temperature well over 200.degree. F. Then the dough is processed by extrusion such that a "puffed" dough article results. The dough article is then tempered for a period of time. The dough is then sliced as opposed to the normal practice of shaping it into a pellet form before flaking. These slices are then placed on a flaking roller, flaked, and then toasted. The final product is either an individual cereal flake that has a mixture of various grains and ingredients or an individual cereal flake of a singular grain. The Leebens reference discloses a process to make flake particles from puffed dough, but the flake particles can not be used in cooked cereals.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,427 to Martin discloses a process for producing a ready-to-eat cereal consisting of puffed, toasted cereal flakes. The main cereal ingredients in this process are rolled oats, bumped wheat, and oven puffed rice flakes. These cereal grains are coated with syrup, grain by-products, and nut particles. The resulting product is commonly referred to as a "granola-type" cereal. The flakes in Martin do not have to retain particle integrity upon rehydration as do flaked cereals.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,800 to Scharschmidt et al. discloses a flaked cereal product coated with sugar and oil to enhance both sweetness and storage stability. This process discloses a cereal flake in which the grain is either corn, wheat, or oats. The grain is first cooked and then dried to approximately a 12 to 20 percent moisture content before tempering. After a tempering step, the grains are heated to a temperature between 140.degree. F. and 200.degree. F. in order to produce a pliable particle before flaking. The grains are then flaked and toasted. There are two additional steps after toasting. The flakes are first oil coated and then sugar coated. This results in a product with a cereal flake of a specific grain. This reference does not disclose a process to produce a mixture of different grain flakes. The primary purpose of this invention is to enhance the storage stability and sweetness of the cereal product.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,793 to Olson et al. discloses a sugar coated ready-to-eat cereal flake. In this process oat, soy, and wheat flour and made into a dough. The dough has a moisture content of 18 to 26 percent before cooking. Once the dough is cooked, it is formed into pellets and then dried to a moisture content of below 21 percent before it is flaked. The flakes are then toasted in a drier with temperatures between 250.degree. F. to 300.degree. F. The resulting product is a cereal flake that is a mixture of different cereal flours. Olson does not disclose a method to produce a cereal comprising a mixture of different grain types.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,180,594 to Graf discloses a process for the production of a mixed grain, cereal based product containing sugar, fat, and whey powder. In this process, cereal flakes chosen from a group of oats, barely, wheat, rye, and maze are dry mixed with sugar and whey powder. While the grains are being mechanically mixed, vegetable oil is added and the resulting composition is heated slightly. Hard fragments are formed. The fragments are then cooled and broken into granules. The granule sizes range from 3 to 10 millimeters. The resulting product is a granola type cereal.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,620,760 to Ver Steeg and 3,620,761 to Spring disclose a process of producing a cook-in-the-bowl type hot breakfast cereal. The process requires a mild fraction of grain and flaking of grain to a flake size of 0.007 to 0.008 inch thickness. The mild fraction is tempered to a moisture content of 15 to 16 percent at a temperature 185.degree. F. to 220.degree. F. It is then flaked by flaking rolls having a slight differential. After this further drying occurs. These references identify a home prepared hot cereal in which flaking occurs to achieve an appropriate particle size. These references are concerned only with wheat and oats and do not reveal a method of preparing a multi-grain hot cereal.
The references cited above do not disclose a process whereby individual grain flakes can be efficiently and economically mixed to produce a mixed grain cereal of high quality and consumer acceptability. The object of this invention is to provide a cereal of different grain types and a process that produces a mixed grain, flaked cereal, that maintains particle consistency and withstands rehydration during cooking. It is also an object of this invention to provide a process, in which handling procedures used to make a cereal of different grain types is minimized such that large particles and increased particle integrity results. It is a further object of this invention to provide a process whereby quality control expenditures are minimized by eliminating the need for separate batch processing of the individual grain flakes, thus, resulting in a more efficient production of a mixed grain cereal product.